I am outraged that the Tomahawk Leader felt it necessary to print a picture of bloody hand prints on the brick wall where the murder took place. Was there no thought of the family and friends of Tracy, and how that would affect them? The story could have been done without showing the blood of Tracy on the wall. Poor taste I think. Am I the only one that feels this way?

I agree. Very poor taste. The picture was 'over the top'. I would expect to see something like that in one of the supermarket tabloids, not in the Leader. There is no positive value in showing something like this. It borders on the grotesque.

I wholeheartedly agree. It shows a total lack of compassion towards her family. I'm wondering, if it had been a member of the Tobin family who was murdered, would they have been so quick to print a similar picture? Just curious.

Media is always over the top on things like that. I would expect a local paper to do a bit better for the family. The key word is SENSATIONALISM any thing to make $$$$$$. People should quit buying all that garbage but it seems that we like it or at least some people do.

Not going to defend or question your thoughts but I do have one question...

If the police were called for a disturbance, left without entering, came again the next day and I believe left again and finally forced entry on another visit were they really looking closely if there was blood OUTSIDE the building?

I was involved in calling for a disturbance in Eau Claire and I have to give them credit. We called because we overheard someone threaten someone in another building with a knife. I've never seen more squad cars descend on one area in my life! In 10 minutes they had the car full of suspects and there were at least 10 police vehicles in the parking lot.

I have to preface this by saying I read about eight newspapers a day. Three in my hand and the rest on the internet. Although I am sure the family of the victim found the pictures hard to look at, they were in fact a reminder of the crime that was committed, and left in plain view to see.

The Rhinelander Daily News had them on their front page last week, and Channel 7 had close up's of them this evening on their news cast, with the reporter giving her stand up report next to them. So it is not like the Tomahawk Leader went out on a limb here.

Are they sensational? Yes. Do we expect to see them in the Leader? NO. Only because murders do not normally occur in Tomahawk. We are more accustomed to boy scouts and flowers gardens on the front page of the Tomahawk Leader. But something really bad happened last week over on Merrill Ave, and the reporters of the paper reported on it, and as a part of their reporting they found these hand prints, and they showed us how severe this crime was.

It is difficult to do hard hitting news in a small town. A simple drunk driving arrest is common place for a small town newspaper to report on, but when the family lives three doors down it is sensationalism to them and their is no need to print the story in their minds.

As I said, I read newspapers all day long, and this photograph was not tabloid material. It was a symbol of a struggle of a young woman. I think we should just be glad the person believed responsible for the incident is now sitting in a cell.

Let's look forward to a return of civic stories and community pride to once again grace the front page of the paper, the bad news has been too much as of late.

I seem to be the only one not enraged by the pictures of the handprints. Reality is gruesome. These handprints were printed in every paper with more detailed stories just a day after Tracy's murder. In discussion with co-workers we were dissapointed that the Leader was the last to cover the story with any detail.We hid the first paper with the handprints from her father for days.He asked to see it and asked to keep it. Handprints and all. Tracy was a real person and what happened to her is tragic and undeserving.Tracy's neighbors,family and friends see these handprints daily. They will forever be etched in their minds. Rain did not wash them away. They are a reminder that bad things happen even in a small community.

Second guessing is always an easy process. That having been said, I have to wonder about this section of the story from the Leader:

"Police were called to Maurer's two-story apartment complex around midnight that night after an upstairs tenant reported "yelling and screaming" coming from Maurer's residence, where she lived alone. A dog was heard inside and no one answered the door. Nothing seemed amiss, thus, no entry was made."

I am sorry, but when a neighbor reports something like this, it seems to me that there is indeed something amiss and there is more than enough reason to enter the premises and do a health and welfare inspection. I would rather see law enforcement err on the side of caution than wait until the next day. The photo is simply part of the reality of what happened. I have not noticed any other members of the press being overly concerned with our finer sensibilities lately, and I would not be so quick to critique the Leader on this point. As the rest of my message indicates, there are some things about this tragedy that disturb me far more than the picture.

After re-reading the earlier posts I don't feel that those posts that were 'against' the pictures were necessarily 'enraged' by the pictures. Even Pac-Man, who used the word enraged, ended his post with "The story could have been done without showing the blood of Tracy on the wall. Poor taste I think." And that's pretty much the bottom line of how I feel.

I just don't think there was any value in showing those pictures in the Leader...regardless of whether or not they were shown in other papers or on TV. People will remember this tragedy even if they didn't see the pictures. The use of the pictures just stuck us all in different ways...some think they were of value, some don’t. And here is the place to opine.

MJC135 has what I think are some good thoughts...."Let's look forward to a return of civic stories and community pride to once again grace the front page of the paper, the bad news has been too much as of late."

I also agree that this was handled in a proper way by police & the local media. I do not feel the photo was out of line due to the crime itself. News is news & needs to be presented to the public in a fashion that info is made known & the public is informed in a timely manner. I think the "outrage" came in to play because we ARE a small community & this type of crime is basically unheard of in this enviroment.

I was also wrong on the number of trips the Police made from what I see. It appears that they forced entry on their first daylight trip. If that's the case then it makes more sense than if they didn't notice the blood until their second daylight trip to the scene.

I personally don't think there was anything wrong with the picture being printed. I feel for the family for having to view and read the details in the news paper however, the same kind of pictures get printed when there are other tragic events that happen example car accidents, house fires I guess I could go on and on...what about the families of those people? I think they too would be upset to see this in the paper...and not to mention hearing about it on WJJQ for that matter...everything is broadcasted...how would it feel to hear or read over and over about your loved one getting a DUI, involved in an accident or anything else for that matter...it's news and the Tobins reported just that. Reading the newspaper or listening to the radio may cause someone to get upset by what they see, read or hear...

I'm not saying that it's not big news and that it shouldn't be reported, I'm saying there is just seems to be no reason (other than shock value) to show that particular picture. I'm sure there were many other pictures to choose from that might have been a bit more appropriate and respectful considering the context (a simple picture of the victim, for example).

Whether or not other news outlets in other cities showed it is irrelevant in my opinion.

I honestly understand what all is saying about it not being necessary to post such a picture...however if that is the case, then no pictures of any tragic accidents should be printed to protect family that may or may not see it in the paper...believe me I've read things about my family in the paper and quite honestly wasn't happy to see it in print or view the pictures!

Originally posted by JustbeHappy:I honestly understand what all is saying about it not being necessary to post such a picture...however if that is the case, then no pictures of any tragic accidents should be printed to protect family that may or may not see it in the paper...believe me I've read things about my family in the paper and quite honestly wasn't happy to see it in print or view the pictures!

As far as I'm concerned, pictures of tragic accidents don't need to be showed either. I'm not saying that these things shouldn't be reported, I'm saying I don't see a reason for showing graphic pictures of it.

I would also like to point out that there is a significant difference for me personally between showing a picture of a car that was in an accident, or READING things about family in the paper.. and this particular picture.

(It's over and done with at this point, but I'm just trying to understand why people feeling that this particular picture was just plain unnecessary, needs to be compared to anything/everything else reported in the Leader and any other newspaper in the tri-state area to be considered a valid concern...)

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese....